Dang RV

The hardest part of becoming a full-time RVer is taking the leap of faith by getting rid of the house and household goods. Letting go is not easy. Not everyone does let go. Some folks are full-timers for only 6 months a year as snowbirds. Most others choose to rent the house out and store their life’s possessions or leave the house alone for a year or two until they are sure their new lifestyle suits them. So, once the lure of the road has made these new recruits succumb and commit to this new lifestyle, how do they get rid of their “stuff”?

1. Sell whatever you can! The best ways to do that are a garage sale, local flea market, or Craigslist. You may also be able to sell it to some for-profit thrift stores. We have had great success selling furniture through Craigslist. Smaller items like collectibles, bric brac, kitchen appliances, etc. sell well at local flea markets. Check a flea market out before going. The cost for a space is usually pretty cheap. Get there very early in the morning (before the sun comes up) to get a spot and be prepared to stay all day as you may be parked in. If you don’t have a canopy, bring an umbrella for each of you to escape the sun and lots of drinks. Be ready for fellow sellers to check you out and buy before the crowd arrives. Watch out for those that try to chew you down on price so they can resell your item for a higher price in their booth.
2. Use groups like freecycle.org to give your things away to a good home. This is a nationwide movement to share what you have with others and keep used items out of the dumpsters. You may also find something you need on there.
3. Donate to charity thrift stores. Not only will they find new homes for your things but you can also ask for a receipt to take the value of your goods as an income tax deduction.
4. Give away stuff to your family and friends. Everybody likes to get free stuff!

Giving up a lifetime of possessions is not going to be easy but do you really use that much of it every day or has most of it gone untouched in the past year, 5 years, 10 years? It’s time to let go and simplify, simplify your life as Thoreau once said.

See you out on the road!

Despite the intense 90+ heat in Provo, UT currently, there are fun things to do all around that won’t cost much and are cool enough to do. First, Provo caters to bicyclists. There are wonderful bike lanes on many of the roads and an easy and beautiful bike trail that runs through Provo and up Provo Canyon beside the river. Whether walking or biking, the trail is a definite must do. We have been driving our scooters to different parts of it to see what we can and it provides an excellent way to get around traffic safely to get to the store or bus stop. We also find that getting a bike or scooter up to speed on the trail is an excellent way to cool off. The breeze created goes in one sleeve and out the other. LOL

Utah Lake state park is excellent for boating, swimming, camping, picnics, biking, and hiking. The park is at one end of the bike trail. There is plenty of room to launch and park. Many families like to picnic and swim there. There are plenty of mosquitoes there sometimes so bring the spray as well as the sun block. Getting in will cost you $9 at this time. Camping is currently $20 a night for electric and water.

Connected to the lake is a river which appears to have good swimming and canoeing. You can easily tell where the best swimming holes are on the river by looking for the ropes hanging from the trees to swing on. The bridge outside the state park offers free parking next to it and a wide spot below to put a canoe in or wade about. Walk the road or trail next to the river to get to the swimming spots. We see lots of folks river swimming around here.

Just a short way up Provo Canyon are several green parks along the bike trail. With covered pavilions for picnics, playgrounds, ample parking, excellent mountain scenery, and the river running past they are great for spending a lazy day or as jump off points for a long bike ride. Canyon Glen Park also provides climbing rock structures for the kids or beginning climbing enthusiasts. It’s a good place to stop along the trail for a drink of water as well. Nunn’s Park provides camping just across the street from Bridal Veil Falls. Bridal Veil is usually busy though not too crowded and is where many of the locals go on a hot day to observe the twin falls, climb up to the upper pool or falls, or cool off with a wade in the ice cold lower pool.

We spent the day today riding in Provo Canyon. We drove our scooters in my SUV out to Canyon View Park and mounted up there. There is a bridge that crosses the river and onto the bike trail there. We headed upstream on the paved trail which was not too steep at all. We passed Canyon Glen Park and went through Nunn’s Park until we got to Bridal Veil Falls where we found an empty picnic table for our lunch I had strapped on my back. I like their metal tables on cement slabs there and we lucked out by getting one under a cool tree. We took our time with our sub sandwiches and sodas then laid down for a rest. Even riding a scooter can be hard work. Later, we rode over to the falls, sat on the new pedestrian bridge, took off our shoes and socks, then dangled our feet in the icy lower pool. It was soooo cold and hurt our feet at first but felt wonderful once we got used to it. Occasionally, the breeze would pick up like someone had turned on the air conditioner. We watched the crazies walking about in the pool and the climbers going up the fall while others climbed around the mountain side to get up to the upper fall ledge and touch the power of the falls. Eventually, we mounted our scooters again and headed back down to the car with a quick pit stop at the restrooms and water fountain at Canyon Glen Park along the way and a little exploring of Timpangonos just above Canyon View Park.

Another great place to beat the heat cheap is in the dollar theaters around the Provo-Salt Lake area. On the way home from the falls, we stopped in at one to watch a movie in a cool theater. The theaters are actually $1.50 now but that is still a good deal. Of course, the prices at the concession stand are still outrageous but they do have water fountains so go ahead and bring a cup if you really want to go cheap. The movies they show are current movies after they have been out a little while. We saw “Monte Carlo” with Selena Gomez starring. They were also showing “Bridesmaids”, “Green Lantern”, and “Pirates of the Caribbean”.